Bottle Cap Game

ABSTRACT

A competitive game for use with bottle caps for entertainment. The bottle cap game comprises of a bottle cap shooting gun and a wall mounted game board. The wall mountable game board includes a plurality of apertures having differing diameters. Players utilizes the bottle cap shooting gun to remove a bottle cap from a bottle and shoot the cap at the apertures in the game board. A digital counter integrated into the game board displays points each time a bottle cap is shot through one of the apertures on the game board and updates the score. The bottle cap game provides users with an entertaining game for parties involving any type of beverage served in bottles.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to, and the benefit of, U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/045,263, which was filed on Jun. 29, 2020 and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of drinking games. More specifically, the invention relates to an entertaining drinking game for parties involving any type of beverage served in bottles and allows the bottle caps from the beverages to be removed and projected at a wall mountable game board featuring several different sized apertures. Points are accumulated each time a bottle cap is shot through a corresponding hole on the game board. Accordingly, this disclosure makes specific reference thereto the present invention. Nonetheless, it is to be appreciated that aspects of the present invention are also equally applicable to other like applications, devices and methods of manufacture.

BACKGROUND

By way of background, various novelty drinking games are utilized for the purpose of competition, enjoyment, and companionship while drinking at a bar, a restaurant, or other places. Games such as Dart Game, Beer pong, Board games, Roulette drinking game and others are known and played throughout the world including the United States. The traditional game of “Beer Pong” (also known as “Beirut”) is an immensely popular beer drinking game played throughout the United States. This game is regularly played on university and college campuses, at beach house parties, bars, restaurants and other festive occasions at which alcoholic beverages, such as beer, are present. Generally, two or four individuals participate at one time to play the game of Beer Pong. The individuals participating in the game enjoy the party, while others feel left out.

Other games such as board games, roulette game or the like are well-known. Board games and Roulette also have a restriction on the number of players, and not everyone can participate in the game at the same time. For example, in board games, two to six players may participate in the game at a time, and others have to wait for their chance. Similarly, in roulette, typically one to seven players may participate at a time, and other people who are interested in playing the game have to wait for their turn to join the game. People waiting for longer time may feel leftover in the party and may get frustrated.

Additionally, dart games are often played at social events. Dart games are generally played by two or more players in which the players throw darts at a circular target which is also known as dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the board, wherein the areas of scoring points are distributed all across the board. A number of similar games exist in the state of the art with variations in board design and set of rules. For each individual, the points scored on hitting the dartboard by dart is calculated manually. The method of calculating the points for each individual is a time taking and cumbersome task. Manual calculation of the points has high chances of cheating and/or mistaken calculation which may lead to inaccurate results. Inaccurate points may result in declaration of incorrect winner, and the real winner may be demotivated.

Therefore, there exists a long felt need in the art for an entertaining drinking game which can be played by any individual partying in bars, restaurants, or the like. There is also a long felt need in the art for an entertaining competitive game which allows every individual to participate in the game. There is also a long felt need in the art for an entertaining competitive game which fulfils the purpose of competition, enjoyment, and companionship for all the people attending the party. Additionally, there is a long felt need in the art for an entertaining competitive game that does not require manual calculation of points for the game and in which there is no chance of cheating in the game. Finally, there is a long felt need in the art for an entertaining competitive game which involves everyone at the party.

In this manner, the novel game system of the present invention accomplishes all of the forgoing objectives, and provides a funny, entertaining, unique, and highly entertaining game to be played by participants at parties. The entertaining competitive game creates a competitive and fun-loving environment and people do not get bored in the party. The game system of the present invention is also portable and do not require the user to put much effort in fitting and carrying the game system components to various locations for play.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosed innovation. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its sole purpose is to present some general concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

The subject matter disclosed and claimed herein, in one embodiment thereof, comprises a bottle cap game to provide users with an entertaining event for social occasions while consuming beverages stored in bottles. The bottle cap game comprises a game board, a scoring component, and a bottle cap gun. The game board comprises a front surface and a rear surface. The game board further comprises a plurality of apertures of different diameters disposed within the game board extending through both the front and rear surfaces. The game board further comprises a mounting element attached to the rear surface for mounting the game board to a wall or post.

The bottle cap gun comprises a pry tooth for prying off a bottle cap from a bottle. Once the bottle cap is removed from the bottle by the pry tooth, the bottle cap is received into an interior of the bottle cap gun through a bottle cap opening in the bottle cap gun adjacent to the pry tooth. The bottle cap gun further comprises a launch mechanism for propelling the removed bottle cap toward the game board. The bottle cap game may further comprise a collecting container attached to the rear surface for collecting the bottle caps successfully propelled through one of the plurality of apertures in the game board.

The scoring component comprises a digital display integrated into the game board for displaying a score of the bottle cap game. The scoring component further comprises a display controller and a memory in electronic communication with the digital display. A plurality control switches on the game board may be used to manually adjust the digital display. The scoring component further comprises a plurality of detecting sensors. The plurality of detecting sensors are in electronic communication with the display controller. The plurality of detecting sensors are positioned on the rear surface of the game board and configured to detect any bottle cap that passes through any of the plurality of apertures.

The display is configured to show an accumulated score of the bottle cap game based on the aperture in which the launched bottle cap is shot through, wherein the score is awarded when the launched bottle cap traverses the aperture. A higher score may be awarded for penetrating a smaller diameter aperture as opposed to a larger diameter aperture. The plurality control switches may be used to manually adjust the score or reset the score for a new game.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects of the disclosed innovation are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles disclosed herein can be employed and are intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The description refers to provided drawings in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the different views, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective front view of one potential embodiment of the bottle cap game of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective rear view of one potential embodiment of the bottle cap game of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture;

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of one potential embodiment of a bottle cap gun of the bottle cap game of the present invention engaging a bottle cap attached to a bottle in accordance with the disclosed architecture;

FIG. 4 illustrates a close up view of one potential embodiment of a digital display of a scoring component of the bottle cap game of present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture;

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of one potential embodiment of the bottle cap being propelled by the bottle cap gun toward a game board of the bottle cap game of present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture;

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of one potential embodiment of the bottle cap entering one of a plurality of apertures in the game board of the bottle cap game of present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram of one potential embodiment of the scoring component of the present invention in accordance with the disclosed architecture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The innovation is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the innovation can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate a description thereof. Various embodiments are discussed hereinafter. It should be noted that the figures are described only to facilitate the description of the embodiments. They are not intended as an exhaustive description of the invention and do not limit the scope of the invention. Additionally, an illustrated embodiment need not have all the aspects or advantages shown. Thus, in other embodiments, any of the features described herein from different embodiments may be combined.

As noted above, there exists a long felt need in the art for an entertaining game which can be played by any individual socializing in bars, restaurants, or the like. There is also a long felt need in the art for an entertaining interactive game which allows every individual to participate in the game. There is also a long felt need in the art for an entertaining interactive game which achieves the purpose of competition, enjoyment, and companionship for all the people attending the party. Additionally, there is a long felt need in the art for an entertaining game that does not require manual calculation of points for the game.

The present invention, in one exemplary embodiment, is a competitive game comprising a wall mountable game board, a bottle cap shooting gun, and a scoring display. The wall mountable board includes a plurality of holes on the front surface wherein the holes have different diameters. The bottle cap shooting gun uses a pry tooth to pry off the bottle caps and a launcher to launch the caps at the holes present in the board. A digital score counter embedded in the board displays the accumulated score based on the hole in which the launched cap is shot through wherein the score is awarded when the launched cap shots through a hole and the score for the shot in the hole with a small diameter is more than the score for the shot in the hole with a larger diameter.

Referring initially to the drawings, FIG. 1-7 illustrate a bottle cap game 100 for providing users with an entertaining and competitive event for social occasions while consuming beverages stored in bottles. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bottle cap game 100 comprises a game board 110, a scoring component 130, and a bottle cap gun 150. The game board 110 is a generally planar board comprising a front surface 112 and a rear surface 114. The game board 110 may be generally rectangular, square, circular, or any other geometric shape. The game board 110 may be manufactured from a durable material such as, wood, metal, or plastic.

The game board 110 further comprises a plurality of apertures 116 disposed within the game board 110 extending through both the front and rear surfaces 112 and 114. The plurality of apertures 116 may have different diameters but are all large enough to accept a bottle cap 20 as illustrated in FIG. 6. In one embodiment, the plurality of apertures 116 may comprise a pair of small sized apertures 118, a pair of medium sized apertures 120, a large aperture 122; however, this is not meant as a limitation as the plurality of apertures 116 may be greater or lesser in number and of any variety of diameters. The plurality of apertures 116 are generally circular or oval in shape and sized to receive the caps of various sized bottles. The game board 110 further comprises a mounting element 124 attached to the rear surface 114 for mounting the game board 110 to a wall or post. The mounting element 124 may be a mounting loop or other mechanical fastening attachment capable of mounting the game board 110.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the bottle cap gun comprises a grip 152, a barrel 154, and a nozzle 156. The bottle cap gun 150 is adapted to remove a bottle cap 20 from a bottle 20 and propel the bottle cap 20 toward the game board 110 as illustrated in FIG. 5. The bottle cap gun 150 further comprises a pry tooth 160 for prying off the bottle cap 20 from the bottle 10. Once the bottle cap 20 is removed from the bottle 10 by the pry tooth 160, the bottle cap 20 is received into an interior of the bottle cap gun 150 through a bottle cap opening 158 in the bottle cap gun 150 adjacent to the pry tooth 160.

The bottle cap gun 150 further comprises a launch mechanism 162. The launch mechanism 162 is configured to propel the removed bottle cap 20 toward the game board 110. The launch mechanism 162 may be a piston, spring, and trigger mechanism, a compressed gas cartridge, or any similar mechanism configured to propel a bottle cap. In one example, a spring is locked into a compressed position. Then the pry tooth 160 of the bottle cap gun 150 is used to open the beer. From there the bottle cap gun 150 is aimed at a preset target, and the spring compressed bottle cap launcher will release as the trigger is pulled sending the bottle cap flying toward its intended target. The bottle cap gun 150 is constructed from a sturdy material such as wood, hard plastic, carbon fiber or metal. The launch mechanism 162 is configured to project the bottle cap 20 up to approximately twenty feet on a level shot.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the bottle cap game 100 may further comprise a collecting container 126. The collecting container 126 is a bin, box, or similar reservoir or container attached to the rear surface 114 of the game board 110 for collecting the bottle caps 10 successfully propelled through one of the plurality of apertures 116 in the game board 110. The bottle caps 20 collected in the collecting container 126 of the game board 110 can be removed or flushed automatically or manually once the collecting container 126 is full or a game is completed.

As illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 7, the scoring component 130 comprises a display 132. The display 132 is a digital display, such as an electronic digital LCD or OLED display or touchscreen integrated into or attached to the game board 110 for displaying a score of the bottle cap game 100. The scoring component 130 further comprises a display controller 134 and a memory 136 in electronic communication with the digital display 132. A plurality control switches 138 in electronic communication with the digital display 132 and the display controller 134 are positioned on the game board 110 and may be used to manually adjust or update the digital display 132. The plurality control switches 138 may comprise an increase score switch 140, a decrease score switch 144, and a reset switch 142. The plurality control switches 138 are configured to adjust the display 132.

The scoring component 130 further comprises a plurality of detecting sensors 146. The plurality of detecting sensors 146 are in electronic communication with the display controller 134. The plurality of detecting sensors 146 may be positioned on the rear surface 114 of the game board 110 and configured to detect any bottle cap 20 that passes through any of the plurality of apertures 116. The plurality of detecting sensors 146 may be photoelectric sensors or light sensors that detect the bottle cap 20 that successfully penetrates one of the plurality of apertures 116 as illustrated in FIG. 6. When the bottle cap 20 breaks a light beam, the affected sensor 146 sends an appropriate signal to the display controller 134 that the bottle cap 20 has been detected and based on the scoring programming, the scores are accumulated and displayed on the display 132.

Scoring may be based on the diameter of the particular aperture 116 penetrated, with a larger score awarded for apertures 116 of smaller diameter. For example, the score for the bottle caps 20 received by the apertures 116 may be equal or the score for inserting the bottle cap 20 into the small diameter aperture 118 can be more than the score for inserting the bottle cap 20 into a medium diameter aperture 120. Similarly, the score for inserting the bottle cap 20 into a large diameter aperture 122 is smaller than the score for inserting the bottle cap into medium diameter aperture 120.

In use, the bottle caps 20 are projected at the apertures 116 one by one in turn or in teams to accumulate points depending on which aperture 116 the fired bottle cap 20 is shot through. Any number of players can play the game and the scores are accumulated and displayed by the display 132 which can be reset for example at the start of a new game. Each player's turn may be comprised of opening a bottle 10 using the pry tooth 160 of the bottle cap gun 150, drinking the drink in the bottle 10, and firing a shot of the cap 20 at the apertures 116. The game player can either shoot the bottle caps one at a time when they first remove the beer cap. Or, they can be saved and set off to the side for multiple shoots in a row.

All the components of the bottle cap game 100 may be manufactured using any known molding techniques. The bottle cap game 100 of the present invention allows people to play simple yet entertaining games with fair scoring which induces interest and fun for players to engross in the game. The rules can be customized, and the scoring can be programmed by the players without any difficulty.

Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular features or components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, different persons may refer to the same feature or component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components or features that differ in name but not structure or function. As used herein “alcoholic drinking game system”, “novelty drinking game”, “system”, and “drinking game system” are interchangeable and refer to the bottle cap game 100 of the present invention.

Notwithstanding the forgoing, the bottle cap game 100 and the game board 110 and bottle cap gun 150 of the present invention can be of any suitable size and configuration as is known in the art without affecting the overall concept of the invention, provided that it accomplishes the above stated objectives. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the size, configuration and material of the bottle cap game 100 as shown in the FIGS. are for illustrative purposes only, and that many other sizes and shapes of the bottle cap game 100 are well within the scope of the present disclosure. Although the dimensions of the components game board 110 and bottle cap gun 150 are important design parameters for user convenience, the game board 110 and bottle cap gun 150 may be of any size that ensures optimal performance during use and/or that suits the user's needs and/or preferences.

Various modifications and additions can be made to the exemplary embodiments discussed without departing from the scope of the present invention. While the embodiments described above refer to particular features, the scope of this invention also includes embodiments having different combinations of features and embodiments that do not include all of the described features. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations as fall within the scope of the claims, together with all equivalents thereof.

What has been described above includes examples of the claimed subject matter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the claimed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the claimed subject matter are possible. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A bottle cap game comprising: a game board comprising a front surface and a plurality of apertures disposed therein; a scoring component comprising a display integrated into the game board; and a bottle cap gun adapted to propel a bottle cap at the game board.
 2. The bottle cap game of claim 1, wherein the plurality of apertures have different diameters.
 3. The bottle cap game of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of apertures are large enough to accept the bottle cap.
 4. The bottle cap game of claim 1, wherein the plurality of apertures comprise a pair of small sized apertures, a pair of medium sized apertures, and a large sized aperture.
 5. The bottle cap game of claim 1, wherein the game board further comprises a mounting element attached to a rear surface of the game board.
 6. The bottle cap game of claim 1 further comprising a collection container attached to a rear surface of the game board.
 7. The bottle cap game of claim 1, wherein the bottle cap gun comprises a pry tooth for removing the bottle cap from a bottle.
 8. The bottle cap game of claim 1, wherein the bottle cap gun comprises a launch mechanism for propelling the bottle cap.
 9. The bottle cap game of claim 1, wherein the scoring component comprises a plurality of detection sensors positioned to detect the bottle cap entering one of the plurality of apertures.
 10. A bottle cap game comprising: a game board comprising a front surface, a rear surface, and a plurality of apertures disposed therein; a scoring component comprising a display integrated into the game board, and a plurality of detection sensors positioned on the rear surface of the game board to detect a bottle cap entering one of the plurality of apertures; and a bottle cap gun adapted to propel the bottle cap at the game board.
 11. The bottle cap game of claim 10, wherein the plurality of detection sensors are photoelectric sensors.
 12. The bottle cap game of claim 10, wherein the scoring component further comprises a display controller in electronic communication with the display.
 13. The bottle cap game of claim 12, wherein the scoring component further comprises a plurality of control switches in electronic communication with the display controller.
 14. The bottle cap game of claim 13, wherein the plurality of control switches are configured to adjust the display.
 15. The bottle cap game of claim 10, wherein the scoring component further comprises a memory.
 16. The bottle cap game of claim 10, wherein the game board further comprises a mounting element attached to a rear surface of the game board.
 17. The bottle cap game of claim 10, wherein the display is a touchscreen.
 18. A bottle cap game comprising: a game board comprising a front surface, a rear surface, and a plurality of apertures disposed therein; a scoring component comprising a display integrated into the game board; a bottle cap gun comprising a pry tooth for removing a bottle cap from a bottle and a launch mechanism for propelling the bottle cap toward the game board; and a collection container attached to the rear surface of the game board.
 19. The bottle cap game of claim 18, wherein the scoring component further comprises a plurality of photoelectric sensors positioned to detect the bottle cap entering one of the plurality of apertures.
 20. The bottle cap game of claim 19, wherein the scoring component further comprises a display controller and a memory in electronic communication with the display. 